1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a connecting device between two vehicle parts hinged to one another of an articulated vehicle, comprising a lower swivel joint and a connection with a bellows and an intercar gangway, whereas the swivel joint is provided with two joint members being rotatably joined to one another by means of a rotary member.
2. Description of the prior art
Articulated vehicles with a connecting device of the type mentioned above are known from railway vehicles for example. Recently, so-called low-platform vehicles are being developed, that is vehicles whose entrance area in particular is only a small distance away from the surface of the platform. Such vehicles are lowered. Moreover, due to soundproofing as well as to thermal insulation, double bellows are being used with increased frequency. That means that, in the area of the connection between two vehicle parts hinged to one another of an articulated vehicle, quite a lot of space is needed in the floor area toward the ground, this space often not being available in this area due to the low height of the vehicle, yet the bellows being designed in the floor area as a single bellows only and not as a double bellows.
The object of the present invention is therefore to develop a connecting device of the type mentioned above in such a way so that even with low-platform vehicles sufficient ground clearance is given even in the area of the connection.
The solution of this object is to fasten the bellows, which is designed as a pleated or as an undulated bellows, to the joint members. According to the state of the art, the bellows has been linked so far to the front sides of the vehicle parts. In the area of the front sides of the vehicle""s portal, separate suspension arrangements are provided for the reception of the bellows. These suspension arrangements also extend downward, that means toward the ground surface on which the vehicle is riding, which entails the disadvantage that the connection and thus also the bellows that bridges over the joint are located quite near to the ground, which caused the bellows to get damaged as soon as the ground was a little uneven. Thanks to the direct arrangement of the bellows on the joint members it is now possible to lead the bellows around the joint at a much smaller distance to the joint. This entails that the distance between the bellows and the ground is comparatively bigger than it is the case in the state of the art.
It has been particularly foreseen that each joint member is provided on its side facing the vehicle with an adapter plate for its connection with the vehicle part, whereas the bellows is hinged on the adapter plate. To this end, the adapter plate is advantageously fitted with a groove-like reception for the one end of the bellows, so that no separate fastening means have to be provided in order to receive the bellows in the area of the main entrance of the vehicle part, which entails the advantage of a production at lower cost. In order to arrange the bellows on the adapter plate in the groove-like reception, the bellows is fitted at its end with a swelling that is introduced into the groove-like reception. According to another feature and in order to prevent the bellows from sagging in its central part, the bellows is advantageously linked to the rotary member by connecting means. The connecting means hereby consists of two arms, each of them locking positively the bellows. The arms are hereby advantageously extending in such a manner so that the rotary member is essentially completely covered.
According to a particular embodiment, the intercar gangway with the bellows, which can be designed as a pleated or as an undulated bellows for example, is provided with two gangway parts, whereas the first of the two gangway parts may be accommodated on the one joint member in the area of the fastening on the vehicle part, whereas the other gangway part may be connected to the first gangway part in the area of the swivelling axis of the swivel joint by means of a connecting member. This clearly shows that the one gangway part is firmly connected to the one joint member, whereas the other gangway part is quite loose, that is it rests, horizontally movable, on the joint member. When threading a curve, the other joint member can thus be displaced relative to the gangway part located on top of it. In order to prevent the gangway parts from caving in in the area of the connecting member of the two gangway parts, the connecting member is borne on the rotary member in such a manner so that it may be supported.
In addition, in order to permit an easy motion of the gangway parts on the joint members, the gangway parts are provided on their underside with sliding members. In order to enable the motion of the other gangway member relative to the adjacent vehicle part when the articulated vehicle is threading a curve, this gangway member has got a semicircular shape on its side facing the vehicle.
According to a particular embodiment, the connecting device in the roof area is provided with an upper swivel joint, thanks to which the vehicles hinged to one another are prevented from buckling. That means that vehicle parts that are connected to each other in such a way are able to move horizontally relative to one another, this having to occur when threading a curve, but that a nodding movement around the horizontally running transverse axis of the vehicles is rendered impossible by such a construction. Such a construction is used in vehicles which have only little ground clearance and which accordingly have a lower swivel joint that does not have the dimensions required to avoid the nodding movement. That is why the other swivel joint is provided in the roof area.
In the following, the invention is explained in more details with the help of the drawing.